In conventional assemblies, the LEDs are glued to a housing or the assembly includes snap-in designs that work on flanges or leads of the LEDs.
The drawbacks with conventional assemblies are that the LEDs are not adequately fastened to the housing and that the process of gluing or snapping-in the LEDs to the housing creates stresses on the LEDs, specifically, on the connection between the LEDs and the leads. Snap-in designs typically engage with the LED flange and/or lead section immediately below the flange. Due to variations in design of LEDs from different manufacturers and wide dimensional tolerances on these details, it is very difficult to design snap-in spacers that work well consistently. With glued designs, long curing times reduce throughput and increase cost in manufacture. Most glues are toxic and vapors or possible skin contact represent health hazards during application.